From Ashes
by JohnTitor
Summary: After the Zero Requiem was complete, Lelouch thought he would finally pay for his sins with his life; however, god has a sense of humor and grants him immortality. Post R2.


_From Ashes_

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

_The one where Lelouch is an exotic dancer..._

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><p><strong>January 18<strong>**th**** 2019 a.t.b.**

A loud booming voice rang out around the room. The ladies at the bar turned to the catwalk and stared, the women sitting in front of the runway waited almost impatiently.

The voice was almost omnipresent, repeated, "PRESENTING, IN HIS FIRST TIME DEBUT, THE PHANTOM OF THE EMPIRE!" and out walked out a tall lean man covered from feet to shoulders in a long black cape, his face obscured by a white face mask, allowing only his aristocratic high cheekbones and his mouth which was in a tight line, be seen.

The music started blasting, and the lean man walked forwards, his long legs taking steps like a professional model. His pace made every single female stare at him captivated by the regal aura he emitted.

When he made it to the edge of the platform, his feet shoulder length apart, he stood there while the music built up the tension. The women stared with lust waiting for it, then booming bass hit and the lean mans arms both flailed outwards. His cape revealed his flat stomach, and while there was no six pack, rock hard abs that could grate cheese, his flat toned stomach was appealing. There was a red scar on his stomach, it looked like it could have been a fatal wound, but that couldn't be the case since he was alive. His long slender legs made the women follow; their gaze staring intently from the bottom of his black boots, to the beginning of his black shorts that were incredibly short. The bulge that it contained tinted every woman's cheeks a rose color.

Instantly money started being thrown all over and around the man. From the back a tall blonde woman whose right eye was covered by her hair smiled.

There in front of many women, stood Lelouch vi Brittania, in all his semi naked glory.

While on the outside he gave a confident look that made the women weak in the knees, on the inside he was simply repeating a few words, like a mantra or prayer, _This is just like being Zero. This is __just like being Zero. This is just like being Zero._

When the playlist was over, Lelouch walked backstage.

"Good job new guy!"

"Chicks dig scars bro!"

"Hey, that wasn't so bad."

"I like the tattoo!"

"You did well for your first time."

Finally after looking around the props section he found a vest, and black velcro jeans that were meant to simply pull off. He changed into them, despite not having a shirt and made his way to the room titled Office, still having his mask placed on his face. Knocking lightly, he heard the reply, "Come in."

He greeted her politely, "Hello ma'am."

The blonde didn't even look up from her paperwork, "Quickly answer me the following questions."

"Yes ma'am."

"Why did I catch you wearing the ridiculous short shorts and that mask as you were trying to exit my club?"

"I was going to steal them from you ma'am."

She looked up from the paperwork and leaned back in her chair. "And why would you steal from me?"

He looked at her, his violet eyes visible through the white face mask, "because I ran away from home. I had very little money, and what I did have I ended up wasting getting drunk." He had the decency to look embarrassed, "when I woke up today around four in the afternoon, I was in an alley, naked. I found your club and was going to steal your clothes and then try to make some money somewhere but you caught me."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "You were going to try finding a job...? Wearing a stripper outfit?"

He again looked abashed, "Well, it's better than being naked."

She laughed lightly, "Wow, you really are an idiot." She looked at him now, "You weren't so bad out there. I've seen a lot of kids come by here and I help them get started. I don't force any of them to do anything they don't want, but if they can make their own money I'll let them work here."

He stared bewildered a bit now. "Are you offering me a room here?"

She laughed again, "Kid, I'm not that nice. If you make yourself useful around here I'm willing to let you keep a room. It's small, only a bed and a drawer along with a television. I don't know what kind of family you ran away from but I can tell you used to have money." She looked at his mask, "I guess you're family has a lot of influences if you're not willing to take off that mask. For now I'll let you stay here for the rest of the month, free of charge, starting the first of February though, I'll be expecting 6,000 pesos for the month, including water, living quarters, and the house fee."

He smiled gently, a real smile not the ones he had given his new co-workers outside or some of the women in the crowd. "Thank you Miss Angelica. I'll remember this act of kindness; one day I'll pay back this debt I have to you."

She looked at his smile and returned it, "I know you will, now run along to the room down the hall from here, think up of a name, your stage name, and go off to buy some clothes, I'm guessing you'll have enough from your first show won't you? I'll see you tomorrow morning when you'll tell me how you're useful."

He smiled and walked out of the office. That was lucky. He headed down the hall towards the room, and just like Angelica had said, it was a simple room. Lelouch walked over and laid on the bed thinking quickly, _Why am I alive? And how did I end up here of all places?_

Indeed, how did he end up in the city of San Francisco in the state of California of the former area three, Mexico?

He had so many questions, but first he had to get things under control, sure he was in a different country, but California was still formerly part of the Britannian Kingdom, and only after he gave it to Area 3 as payment for their treatment did it become part of Mexico again.

Now however, what was he doing on the beach, stark naked at four pm. It was only luck that allowed him to find the _Beach Boys Night __Club_ not even a mile from where he ended up at. He had so many questions, but he needed to sort things out first. It was only 8 pm; heading over to the props section he found a blonde wig.

Heading out of the club with blonde longish straight hair as well as black cop aviator shades he made his way downtown. _Now, where can I find Cannon Bank?_

Cannon Bank was one of the richest banks in Area 11, now known as Japan; this was simply because a lot of their customers were famous gamblers or people who involved themselves in illegal activities. Everyone knew it, but no one could prove it. The minimum balance was 500,000 yen which was roughly the same as 50,000 pesos or 5,000 dollars.

Finally reaching downtown, and ignoring the looks of lust and people questioning his sanity, he was able to make his way to one of their banks. The beauty of it was that these banks were for the most part self-serve. It was a measure to prevent the bank from learning of their customer's identity, to help protect the bank from being accused of money laundry.

He signed in to his account and checked his balance. He was technically in another country and his balance was displayed in three currencies.

Area 11, or Japan now: 846,000,000 Yen.

Area 3, or Mexico now: 846,000 Pesos

And Brittania's currency: 84,600 Brittanian Kingdom Dollars.

He smiled, _Oh Angelica, I have enough now to stay in your single room for the next hundred months._ He was truly happy for a moment. Money really changed everything. This much wouldn't last him too long though, especially now that he was apparently immortal. He needed to make some more, and soon. Withdrawing 46,000 pesos he put all the hundreds in his pocket before leaving the bank. _I just have to remember that pesos are one less zero than dollars and three less than yen._

Before he could even start buying clothes he had to do something about his violet eyes. Quickly finding an optometrist's office he walked in. He took off his black cop aviator shades hoping that his face wasn't too much of a giveaway of who he was. It was a small office with glasses everywhere. The doctor seemed to have barely opened up his business.

"Hello, doctor. I want to buy some decorative contact lenses." He gave the doctor a small smile.

"Oh. You youngsters make me regret ever going to SFSU." With a sigh the old man went to the back of his store. "I have various kinds, which do you want?"

Lelouch took a second to think it through, he didn't want to waste too much money on contact lenses, but not many people had violet eyes, he couldn't afford to be cheap. Every pack of six contacts was around 300 pesos. Quickly doing the math he answered, "I'd like 20 packs, 5 blue, 10 green and 5 hazel."

The man laughed, "No seriously kid, how many do you want?"

Lelouch frowned, "I hate to repeat myself."

There was a long silence where Lelouch thought the man would simply ask him to leave. After a couple minutes the man came out with a box full of his wares. "There sonny, I really hope you have the money for all this." Looking at Lelouch anyone would be skeptical, in fact it was a miracle this man didn't enforce the no shirt no service policy. "I'm surprised you want decorative contacts, you have very rare violet eyes."

Lelouch tried to hide the discomfort of him knowing his eyes and for a second thought if maybe he should kill the man, he knew he had violet eyes as well as was purchasing an abnormal amount of contact lenses. Quickly paying 6,000 pesos, without trying to think too much on killing the man, he looked at his box. He now owned 120 disposable contacts, which should last him till the end of February. Leaving the optometrist's he was looking for a department store.

It was near midnight by the time Lelouch entered the backdoor of _Beach Boys Night Club_. Angelica saw him pass by with a raised eyebrow. He now had many bags in his arms and was wearing black jeans and had a brown leather jacket.

Lelouch walked up to her and decided to introduce _himself_, "Hello Miss Angelica, I'm Lewis Anderson. Thank you for letting me stay at your club. I'll be bringing my documentation as well as a resume of what I'm able to do tomorrow in the afternoon. Unfortunately I'll still be settling in tomorrow morning." He smiled at her, slightly forced but for the most part genuine, "I'm sort of in an interesting situation so I hope you can understand."

"Ahh, it's you Mr. Phantom!" She laughed loudly, "I almost didn't recognize you. Yeah, whatever brat. I'll see you around." She walked off one piece black dress hugging her every curve swaying from side to side as she walked away.

He headed towards his room where he took off his clothes as well as inserting some in the drawers. _I really need to go out and buy a laptop. I need to gather information as well as figure out why I'm alive. Why didn't I die? Did C.C. know this __would happen?_

That left a bitter taste in his mouth. _C.C. I'm sorry._

As he laid in bed drifting to sleep he wondered where in the world C.C. was.

"_...I'm going to grant a wish called geass, to all the people everywhere, for the future of the entire world. The only ones who should kill are those prepared to killed."_

_Suzaku was laying in bed at the hospital completely bandaged. He barely realized he was still alive. Next to him were two people._

"_Are you finally awake now Suzaku?" Lelouch jested slightly._

_The pain was still there, but he managed to nod._

"_So are you two finally going to tell me; what's the second part of the Zero Requiem." They both stiffened slightly. Something that the witch took notice of. She turned to look at Lelouch. "He's going to do it, isn't he." C.C. stood up from the stool; no pizza, nor Cheese-kun plushy, in all her immortality glory._

_He was in pain, but he was still able to speak, "Wha- what are you saying?"_

"_It's the reason why he didn't tell me what's going to happen after all this. He has the whole world at his feet, but there's no way he's going to kill Nunally." She was still staring at Lelouch but was talking to Suzaku. "World peace or a single life? The whole world would fear him if he executes the Black Knights; however," she paused and if possible her glare intensified. "You're not willing to kill Nunally. Is it better to be feared or loved? You choose fear, now what's next Lelouch?"_

_He knew what she meant; however, admitting everything to her now wasn't what he wanted to do. "I don't know what you're talking about."_

_Her glare intensified; a glare worthy of making the Demon Emperor cower. Still, he wouldn't back down, this would benefit the world; he couldn't be selfish, not now. He didn't deserve the right to be selfish. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. After everything that has happened you're going to leave me..."_

_She didn't need to say __it;__ he knew what the rest of that sentence was __supposed__ to be, _like everyone else_. It hurt him, he didn't want to see his indiffe__rent laid back witch like this; not her. "I... this is the only thing I can do."_

"_The only thing you can do!" She was screaming now. "You! Lelouch Lamperouge, Lelouch vi Brittania, Zero: Man of Miracles! You're admitting defeat? This is the might of the Conqueror of the world?"_

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><p><strong>January 19<strong>**th**** 2019 a.t.b.**

Panting heavily he opened his eyes. It was just a nightmare. A reminder of what had transpired that day; the day he forsook his future, in order to grant a better future for the rest of the people- his people.

Looking at the alarm clock near his bed he realized it was 5:48 am. Not too early, not too late. Getting up he grabbed a new towel he recently purchased as well as a couple clothes and headed towards the shower rooms.

It was around 8 am when he headed back to his bank. Once he reached Cannon Bank he headed towards the Lost and Found area; it was closed the prior night, but early bird catches the worm.

There was a young man, strong build with black hair in a black suit. He smiled as he approached, "Hello there. I was wondering if you had seen my dog?"

The man looked at the teenager in black slacks long sleeved green shirt and black vest. His blond locks and green eyes that matched his shirt gave him the business look; however, he still looked rather young. "And what color is this cat of yours?"

"Green."

"His name?"

"Lewis Anderson."

"Date of birth as well as place?"

"October 9th 1998, in San Francisco, California."

"Would you say he weighs 120 pounds and is about 6ft?"

Lelouch smiled at the man, "Yes I'd say that's about right. You have seen him right? I have a reward for those who find him."

The man smiled back, "but of course. We find lots of dogs around here. If you come by again at around 6 pm I'm sure we'll have your cat ready."

Satisfied, Lelouch left the building. Seriously, getting a fake id wasn't hard when you had the right contacts.

He was walking down the street when he saw a costume store and decided that seeing as his new line of work was... different; he would need to buy different clothes.

As he was taking off his vest his shirt was almost pulled off as well; a gasp was heard. Quickly after taking off his vest he turned around; however, to his disappointment no one was there. Ignoring it he tried on the leather shirt that seemed well polished. _I guess I might have to wear this._ Looking at himself in the mirror he felt a little weird. _I don't think so_. He might be a strip- exotic dancer now, but he still had some royal pride.

Remembering that he still needed to buy a laptop he headed towards the nearest one to buy one as well as a messenger bag for it. After going to pick up his new id as well as birth papers he left to the _Beach Boys Night Club_. It was around 6pm when he arrived. Once again going in through the back door he headed to his room first and then left to Angelica's office. Knocking lightly he informed her, "Hey there, it's Lewis."

"Come in."

Walking in he gave her a manila folder, "Here's my birth certificate and state id."

She leaned back in her leather chair, blue business suit with black blouse was definitely making her assets point out. "Thanks, I'll make copies of them and hand them back to you later."

"As for a resume there's not much I can do. I'm wiling to be an exotic dancer, but I can also bar tend a little. I know you probably have a good bar tender already but I can only handle a couple drinks myself. I'm sure I could fill in while he's away. Other than that, I could help with paperwork or any other office related things."

She crossed her hands under her breast, "Hmm, yes. I guess in the morning from 10 am till 6 pm you can work as bar keep. After that when the heavy drinking crowd comes in, you'll be replaced with someone who can do the job better." She was silent for a moment, "I guess if you want to be an exotic dancer, you can do 30 minute sets, if you get good i'll allow you longer sets. As of now, I doubt you can handle Fridays or Saturdays. I'll let you take stage anytime in between 6 pm and 8pm. After 8:30 is when most of club is full and having a rooking out there isn't a great idea."

He stared at her for a second. Rookie? Didn't he make around 3,000 pesos on his first day? Surely stripping your clothes in front of horny women wasn't difficult at all. He was going to say something but thought better of it. "I'll be in your care then. Thank you Angelica."

He turned around and headed to his room where he had left the laptop charging for it's first run. _It's time to do some research on what happened after I died._ Quickly setting the computer up to default settings, he ran the Google Chrome web browser and googled Lelouch vi Brittania. It wasn't a surprise that all the pictures there displayed his picture as Zero pierced his body. He winced a little remembering the pain. Quickly finding an article from an actual legitimate source and not another one of those silly blogs he started reading.

"**Lelouch vi Brittania the 99****th**** Emperor of the Holy Brittanian Empire assassinated by the presumed dead, C.E.O. of the Order of The Black Knights, Zero.**"

It was a long title for an article, but even the words themselves held power. He read through the article, apparently Suzaku wasn't even charged with murder of royalty despite it being blatantly obvious that he did. Shneizel had quickly absolved all crimes against Suzaku and instead had given him a role in the empire as Consultant to the Empress which turned out to be Nunally. He smiled knowing that his kind sister would be the Empress. She would do good; hopefully with Shneizel geassed as Zero's slave as well as Cornelia's support they would be able to lead the empire to prosperity.

Despite being royalty, his body wasn't given a proper funeral. They cremated his body and then released his body into the Pacific ocean.

_I must have acquired immortality from Charles; however, how was I able to still use my geass throughout the time after that?_

He activated the webcam feature on his laptop and looked at his eyes. Repeatedly he tried to activate his geass but nothing happened.

_So I received Charle's code, kept my geass, died, and achieved immortality as well as lost my geass. Hmmm. No, I need to know more; if only C.C. were here. That blasted witch would be able to at least tell me what had happened when she received her code._

Once again he flinched. Damn C.C. What was he going to do if he saw her again? He turned off the laptop and changed into bed clothes. He didn't want to keep thinking about her; he left to bed.

"_You, the Black Prince! The savior of the Japanese can't get out of this?"_

_He looked into her eyes, begging her not to do this. In a soft voice he let out, "This is for the best."_

_Eyes gazed into his soul. "Best?" her voice was rising to a higher pitch. "_This_ is for the best? You promised! If I was a witch you would be my warlock, my demon!"_

_He didn't want it to come to this... "Hah! You're one to talk. All this time you were betraying me. Since the beginning you knew of Marianne's plans, yet you chose not to say anything. This is the same, all this time I knew I would leave you eventually, I just chose not to say anything." Not true... he didn't want to leave her; however, he was really a warlock, a demon, a monster. He didn't deserve happiness, and if to sacrifice his own he would grant the world peace, then so be it._

_She took a step back. "Do you mean that?" Of course he didn't, but why was she making this so difficult._

"_Ye-"_

"_DO YOU REALLY MEAN THAT!" Her scream startled him a bit. They had gotten closer lately, he feared of being near her, yet when they were in the hangar ready to attack the Damocles, he couldn't stand lying to her. This was the consequence of his honesty. "Answer me truthfully, and don't say something you might regret."_

_He was honest and selfish and now he had to pay the price by lying and being selfless. "Do people regret stepping on ants? Of course not. Do you regret trying to use me to have your little wish come true? No, you didn't. Do I regret using you to finally give this cursed world peace? No." He looked at her, a true face of arrogance. The embodiment of lies._

"_You! You and your melodramatic speeches. I should have expected this from the beginning." She looked at him, tears were threatening to come out of her eyes, yet she refused to give in now. "I'm leaving. I need to find a contractor that will actually keep his word." C.C. was about to leave when Lelouch grabbed her._

"_You know I can't let you go." C.C. looked at him, anger, betrayal, many more emotions shone in her eyes; however, the one Lelouch noticed the most was that she still held a tinge of hope._

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><p><strong>January 20th 2019 a.t.b.<strong>

Once again he woke up panting. He briefly wondered if he screamed, and hoped that wasn't the case.

Opening up his laptop again, he checked his bank account. He had enough money to buy a house; however, he was skeptical of trying to actually buy a house under a fake name. He needed to lay low a little longer before he was able to walk around normally.

He wondered what he would have to do to actually be able to make investments. He had been able to keep his identity a secret last time; however, this time he didn't have the support of The Ashford Family, nor was the whole world his enemy. Back then only a select few even knew of a prince by the name of Lelouch vi Brittania; it was easy to forget two royals when the emperor kept making more.

He was so busy checking out real estate he didn't even realize it was 9:17 am. Quickly, he headed towards the shower with his waiter uniform into the bathroom.

As he left the safety of backstage and headed towards the bar he could feel that this was going to be a long day.

Maybe I should lay low somewhere else... He quickly wondered if he would ever get over this feeling of being semi naked. He was currently wearing only black leather jeans, that were extremely tight around his crotch, and outlined everything- everything. He also had a white vest; however, only a white vest. No undershirt, or long sleeve dress shirt, only his bare chest. It was slightly embarrassing, but he was able to maintain his cool. He had brown hair from a wig as well as green eyes from the contacts.

He didn't think many people would show up; especially to a strip club at 10 am, but surprisingly there were a couple people who came. Some seemed like business women who had a break others simply had no shame.

Mixing drinks wasn't to difficult, Hurricane here, Long Island Ice Tea there. It was mostly thanks to Rivalz that he even knew this much. For a past birthday he had received a beginners book to bar tending and he wasn't one to look down on literature, regardless of it's contents.

It was around 4 pm when someone actually made contact with him, "Mojito please." She had a black skirt with a red blouse as well as raven hair. The music was blaring loud, but he was used to listening to people while there was background noise. This moment was almost nostalgic.

Quickly pulling out Captain Morgan: Original Spiced from under the counter then he placed 12 mint leaves in the cup. He added the crushed ice and then poured the alcohol in. As he was making her drink he noticed she was looking at the center stage; however, she didn't have the same look of lust as other women, she looked more focused.

Trying to be friendly like the book had stated he tried sparking up a conversation, "Enjoying the show ma'am?"

"I guess." Her disinterest in his efforts irked him a little.

Handing her the green drink he smiled politely, "Here's your drink miss."

She took it and placed on the counter still not taking her eyes off the catwalk. He went back to polishing shot glasses while she silently sipped on her drink. Every thirty minutes after one of the dancer's sets would end she would order a drink, and that lasted till the end of his shift. When he was switching spots with the next bar tender that he noticed she was leaving. As she walked away he was silently staring at her excellent ass. _What am I doing? _He turned around and headed back stage.

He decided he would do his set again, and took off his wig as well as changed back into the top hat, velcro jeans and pulled the cape as well as mask. He kept the green eye contacts though.

As he walked out with the music starting up with his set, he wondered briefly over the strange woman who stared at men for two hours without even asking for a dance. He didn't have much time to think about it though as the music was soon reaching the drop. He took off his top hat and placed it on the floor for all the women to see. Just when the bass hit he stroke the pose. His arms outstretched like an eagle and widens his cape for all the women to see.

As he stood there he realized something was wrong. Looking out through the eyes from his mask he realized the women weren't all fawning over him, nor where they throwing their money at him. _Did I do something wrong? No... all the conditions were met._ He stared at the crowd, a couple hundred pesos where in his hat, not nearly the same amount as the first time. He did everything he had done the first time yet he didn't get the same results. In front of everyone, he felt pitiful, _where did I go wrong?_ As soon as the song was over, he quickly grabbed his top hat and left backstage.

"Better luck next time!"

"We can't make a fortune every time right?

"Looks like the crowd is stingy today."

Angelica was waiting for him there, "Hey, looks like you didn't make as much as you thought you would."

He was stubborn, "No, it's probably just a rough night like the other guys said."

She laughed at him, "You don't believe that. You seem smart enough, you know you sucked today."

He cringed at her words, he wasn't a loser. _I'm Lelouch vi Brittania, the conqueror of the world. I made the world bow at my feet. Under Zero, my speeches alone would have made people kill themselves if I __had asked them. _Standing there in front of the smirking Angelica he felt annoyed that she would say something like he failed. It didn't even matter that he failed at being a stri- exotic dancer.

"Look you're an attractive guy Lewis," she stopped and looked at him directly, "but it's going to take a lot more than that to make it in this club."

"Wha-? But-"

She cut him off. "Your first night you got lucky. Before you had gone on stage our best dancer, Adonis, had been on stage. You fed off his popularity." Lelouch seemed like he had been struck because he took a step back. "You look like you know your way around stage," her eyes looked at him up and down, "And you have a nice body to go with it;" She stopped for a second and Lelouch admired her speaking abilities, "however, you're still an amateur. You've got a lot to learn." Lelouch frowned at this. "You might want to take a lesson or two from one of our Friday or Saturday night man hunks."

He sighed, "I guess it can't be helped. I'll be asking one of them for help soon." He bowed a bit at her, "Thank you Miss Angelica for the help."

He headed towards his room where his laptop laid charging. Changing into a pair of trunks as well as a t-shirt he turned his laptop on and decided to check up on what was going on with his former life contacts.

A quick google search of Kallen Kozuki showed a lot of celebrity gossip. Everyone was fawning over _his_ ace. _No not my ace anymore; Zero's ace. _He briefly wondered if she knew of his plan, of course she would. She was his ace, she was one of the few that knew he was Lelouch when he paraded as Zero. If anything, he would be disappointed in her if she didn't know.

According to most gossip sites she was enrolling back into Ashford Academy as soon as it re opened. He was glad that she would continue with his last command to her, "live on."

Keeping up he remembered his other knight. Jeremiah Gottwald. After serving under the 99th Emperor, and failing to protect him he resigned. Apparently he now had a small orange farm where he lived. "Orange boy, you live up to your name." He chuckled at this, after everything, his knight's loyalty to his mother was unwavering.

_Marianne._ Time heals all wounds, but he wondered if eternity would be enough to heal the wound of finding out that his own mother abandoned them.

He closed the laptop and laid back down in bed. _Is this my punishment? I give the world peace, yet I am not able to achieve it. I guess even god has a sense of humor. Giving me immortality, to live with the blood stained hands of my family. Never to be able to face anyone I love. _Then he remembered, he could still talk to someone. C.C. _No... Not even her. _With those thoughts he fell asleep.

"_You know I can't let you go." His voice was commanding, the true voice of an emperor. "Jeremiah!" The sliding doors opened, a quick Yes, My lord was heard before Jeremiah walked in. "Take this witch to a room and make sure she can't escape," To say Gottwald was surprised was an understatement, "if you fail, there _will_ be consequences."_

_He looked hesitant at being abrasive with whom he thought was his masters consort, but he was made to follow orders. "Yes, my lord."_

_He grabbed C.C. by the arm, and even if she flailed and tried to get away, she was still no match for bionic strength, leaving Lelouch alone with Suzaku._

_The two months went by in silence. Multiple pizzas were delivered to her room every day, but things were different. She wasn't treated like when she was confined by Clovis; however, the pain in the heart she thought she had sealed away, was much more painful. _

_As Lelouch made the final details in his plans with Suzaku he wondered just how he would be able to move on to the next world not having solved all of his issues. He had reached checkmate against his greatest opponent- himself. All conditions were cleared, except for one; his immortal witch. He had promised her he would be her warlock, that when she would die he would make sure she smiled. Yet the time was here, he would be dying in a couple hours._

_He was shivering, shaking, he was scared. In this moment he realized that knowing when you're going to die gives you no liberation. It chained him down, there were many things he wanted to do and experience. See his sister's smile one more time, see Kallen live on, even watch C.C. die as long as she smiled, but now it would all be over. He had some form of happiness knowing that the world would live on, a happier more gentle place._

_He realized that he had become dependent on C.C. The witch was always there to comfort him. Did she do it because of our contract? They were petty jealous thoughts; however, it didn't matter now. He long ago said that results were all that mattered, and the result of this was that he cared for the immortal witch. It didn't matter now if she did it to keep him in check or if she did it out of regret for knowingly betraying him. He cared for her, yet this was how he paid her. He went to her room, it was out of habit, he would near her door every day, but he never had the courage to open it. Today he would give her the one thing that he valued the most._

_Walking in he realized that she was asleep in bed, he went next to the bed and left a pink crane, a symbol of the geass he was casting. He hoped that she understood what he was doing, and hopefully would forgive him, he didn't want one more person hating him after he died._

* * *

><p><strong>January 21st 2019 a.t.b.<strong>

He woke up and realized it was 6:19 am. _When were these blasted dreams going to stop._ He decided that now would be a good time to go visit Adonis. He took his morning shower as well as changed into his brown wig as well as his green eyes that were his "bartender" look; whereas blonde hair and blue eyes were his casual look.

Heading out back stage he wondered who Adonis was and if he would actually teach him how to be a proper stri- exotic dancer.

"Hey there," he immediately saw the blonde male who was in front of a full scale mirror making his pectorals dance, "you wouldn't happen to be Adonis would you?"

The male turned around and saw Lelouch. He was in only a banana hammock, his body all oiled up. He was the definition of body builder. His blond hair neatly gelled backwards, his blue eyes shining, his six pack easily looked like it was chiseled out of a perfectly tanned stone. "Yes, you must be the new guy? Mr. Phantom?"

Lelouch laughed a little, "Yeah, that's me." He scratched the back of his head a little, "I'm Lewis. I was wondering if maybe you could teach me a bit? I'm new to this, and I'm trying to get the hang of it. Ms Angelica was kind enough to take me in but I 'm still relatively new and wondered if you could help me out."

The man smiled, "Ahhh, yes. Our master Ms Angelica. She really is such a kind soul."

Lelouch stared at him slightly, "Yeah, she mentioned this wasn't the first time she had done this."

Once again, Adonis smiled at him, "Most of us here were rescued by Ms Angelica. I for one wouldn't have survived in the world if it weren't for Angelica's patronage."

Lelouch noticed the wistful look on his face. _So she saves them and therefore gains there undying loyalty. Even if they were offered better jobs, they wouldn't abandon their savior. _For a second he wondered what kind of woman Angelica really was. _That's what I would do... Then again, maybe she does have good intentions. I'm the one who is just plain manipulative. _His thoughts disturbed him. The woman who had lent him a hand was the first one he was being suspicious of already.

"Yes. She seems like a lovely woman." Trying to get what he had intended he reiterate his point, "Anyways, would you mind helping me out? I'm not as great as I had thought." He gave a sheepish chortle.

"Ahh yes!" The man walked up to Lelouch, "Well then Mr. Phantom, you wouldn't mind giving me a demonstration of your set would you?"

Lelouch was a bit hesitant, having to show himself in front of women was difficult already; stri- dancing exotically... There really was no classy way of stating his job. Stripping in front of a man was already putting him a bit on edge, and he had yet to do anything!

"Well... no I don't think so. I'll go get my attire, would you mind going to the DJ and playing the song called _Etienne De Crecy_?"

"Yeah, I think I can find the song by the time you get back." Giving Lelouch a grin he headed off in the direction of the dj's station- still clad in only his banana hammock.

_This man has no shame like C.C._

When he came back he noticed that Angelica was on the bar counter drinking.

_She's probably here to watch my humiliation. _He realized she was only trying to help him out, yet his thoughts were naturally pessimistic.

A voice broke his dark thoughts, "Ready when you are!" He turned to see the tall blonde man give him an ok sign with his hands. He gave him a thumb up.

The music started and he walked out. He walked out and took a step with every single beat. It was a brisk walk. His body completely covered by his black cape. It was 30 seconds when the beat stopped, and the bass hit. He stretched out his arms and one could see his flat stomach. While the music played he moved around with the beat of the music giving attention to the women that weren't there. He flaunted his cape everywhere, emphasizing his body. That continued for the remainder of the song.

When the song finished, Adonis was sitting in one of the chairs in front of him.

Lelouch walked off stage and sat in front of him. "So...?"

"That was horrible."

Lelouch bit his lip. _It wasn't that bad..._ "R-really?"

"Yes." He looked at Lelouch, his chest glistening from the body oil that reflected off of the stage light. "Look, you have a decent physique, your body language screams 'I'm better than you, thank me for allowing you in my presence!' and the music all made excellent choices."

"However?" Lelouch knew there was always a however.

"However," Adonis tried thinking of a way to phrase this correctly. "You're desperate." Well that was more easy than thinking a polite way. Angelica was heard laughing in the background.

"Desperate?" Lelouch was taken aback. "Yeah I need money, but I wouldn't say I'm desperate for it."

"No, you misunderstand me." Adonis looked at him trying to phrase this part, "You're desperate to get it over with it."

Lelouch took this into consideration. _Well I don't love this job..._

"You see, you come across as just wanting to be done." He had a look in his face that look like reminiscing, "It happens to a lot of us when we start out. It was obvious when by around the 30 seconds in, you were bare chested and only donning your shorts and boots."

"Ahh.. Yeah. I guess you're right."

"Of course." Then looking at him again, "And you're physically weak. I mean what did you eat boy?"

Lelouch could hear Angelica laughing at him. He gave him a wry chuckle, "Yeah, I've been told that."

"Look a great way to get some work out is to go for a swim." He pointed at the exit, "We have a beach right here. It would nice if you gained some muscle. You can also get a subscription at the gym a lot of us go to," His hand traveled to his pocket- till he realized he was in his underwear. "Heh, I'll give you a card later. But seriously, you don't need to be completely buff like me, but some muscle won't hurt."

Lelouch sighed, physical activities? "Yeah, that sounds nice. Thank you."

"As for your routine, we can work on that in the mornings. I'll help you out every other day or so."

Lelouch stood up, his cape still on him, "Thank you once again." He turned around and headed out to his room, "It's almost 10 and my shift will begin so I'll be asking for your help again sometime." Turning around for one final glance at the man, "Is that fine?"

"Yes of course. I should probably go put some pants on, my set doesn't stat till 8 pm." He laughed a little.

The rest of the day was simple, it was only around 3:30 pm that the same woman that had come day the day before walked in. She sat on a stool at the bar and ordered a Mojito again. He complied and left her alone.

When his shift ended he noticed that she didn't leave this time.

He headed out and changed before exiting out the back door.

When he came home that night it wasn't nearly as late, but he was tired. He had shopped around for swim gear as well as water proof make up and a watch. It was a simple digital white watch.

Laying in bed he hoped the nightmares would go away.

* * *

><p><strong>January-February 2019 a.t.b.<strong>

The days started to blur by. The nightmares continued to come though. They weren't always of his last encounter with C.C. Sometimes they were of his half sister Euphy slaughtering the Japanese people under his order. Other times it was Clovis begging for his life. His mother was in them as well, sometimes he would have his head on her lap as she played with his hair, only to then be replaced by the laughing woman who didn't care if he died as long as The Ragnarok Connection was completed.

The nightmares plagued him nightly, but when he would ignore them; push them to the back of his head. _I'm broken._ It was a thought that was repeated in his head through out this time. He was sure if he met a psychiatrist he would be sent to a mental ward; however, now that he was immortal he had to stop thinking such things. He would overcome this, where others had failed, he would live for eternity in peace. With nightmares and petty thoughts no longer on his mind, he would swim from 6 am till 9:30 am. He realized Shirley was actually pretty athletic. It took a lot out of him to do laps in the water, especially when the current would go against him.

After that he would return to his room for a quick shower, followed by his job as a bartender. Once again the woman showed up everyday, except she kept showing up even earlier every time and leaving later every time.

Lelouch gave a fake smile, "I'm honored that you keep returning. I suppose my Mojitos are pretty good, right?"

The music was still blaring and loud, but he was able to hear her say, "It's improved."

He wanted to click his tongue at her, instead he simply smiled, "Thank you."

It was small conversations like that he had with her, yet she always drank in silence and occasionally looked at the strippers. Yes, strippers.

However, he noticed that none of them ever caught her attention.

"You know, it's impolite to simply stare." He smiled at her, it was difficult to smile so much at her.

"Hmmm?"

"It's because they work hard you know?"

"Speaking from experience?"

"Slightly. I've only been on stage twice." That actually seemed to catch her interest.

"Oh? You wouldn't happen to live here... would you?"

He looked at her suspiciously, "Wel-"

"Lewis, your shifts up. Go home." Angelica had shown from nowhere and saved him. He looked at his watch and noticed that his shift didn't end for an hour; however, he left but still caught her words, "I hope I see you on stage soon."

Afterward, they would meet again, but the subject was never brought up again. From now on though, she would ask for a lap dance from the dancers, yet still he noticed she would always stare without paying attention.

He was even more astonished when Adonis danced for her, yet she still didn't even bat an eyelash at him.

_This is it... When I do my set, I'll make sure to keep her amazed._ This was the point where he would be able to prove that he was no failure. If he could impress the one who wasn't impressed by any of them then he would prove he was the best.

Everyday after his shift he would to that gym that Adonis had mentioned, it was surprisingly called, Zero Doubt with a strong emphasis on clearing any self-confidence issues its members had.

Just like that, his life had fallen into routine. Day after day the same thing.

* * *

><p><strong>February 16th 2019 a.t.b.<strong>

Today was the day. He would finally give his performance and he was sure he would astonish raven haired woman.

It was just 6 pm when his shift ended that he leaned into the raven haired woman, "Listen, today I'm going to be taking the stage," He felt a little silly, but still he had to say this, "I'd appreciate it if you watched."

She looked slightly amused, "Sure."

He left backstage to his room. He took a quick shower, he needed to smell clean; this was his shot and he wasn't going to mess it up. He scrubbed his hair, making sure it didn't have a stench of alcohol. Afterward, he got out and quickly changed into his Phantom clothes not wanting to waste a minute.

Before he stepped out he smiled slightly, _Hah, I haven't been this excited for a while. A couple months ago my worries revolved around stopping Charles and then Shneizel, and now my biggest worry is will this girl finally crack. _

The music started; he could hear the beat of _Etienne De Crecy_ building up, yet he didn't come out. _30 seconds in. _The beat dropped; that was when he stepped out. He had his top hat on, his face obscured by his white mask, his body covered in his black cape. She stared at his eyes, with a heavy stare as if not believing he was there. The music continued, he walked, deliberately slow. Every pair of eyes were on him. As the music dropped once more he outstretched his hands, yet underneath he had an elegant long white sleeved shirt. Three buttons undone showed the beginning of his chest. He walked to the front- in front of her. Laid his top hat there, and his hair was freed. The silky obsidian black hair; completely absent of color, a true black is what it was. The music continued and he stood up, his broad shoulders slowly slid his shirt off. It wasn't completely off; it dangled off of his elbows covering his back, yet all of his chest was exposed. His pants were stripped off. She stared at his flat chest, her stare following down to the v-curve of his narrow hips. There in front of the rave haired woman, she simply stared. Awestruck.

When Lelouch finally got offstage, it was to a waiter telling him a woman was waiting for him in one of the VIP rooms. As he walks in and closes the door behind him he could see that she was sitting on a chair in front of him, and he proceeds to do his routine. When finally he gets to taking of his shirt he hears an all to familiar click of a gun being cocked.

"Turn around slowly." The music was still loud, even in this room, but he was still able to hear her words; he obeys and turns around to face her. "Now, answer me, where did you get that mark on your back?"

He was taken aback, but he looked up at the roof and saw the mirror. There, on his back, was the bird symbol of geass. I_t must be the proof that I'm immortal. Why didn't I think of it before! C.C. had one __on her forehead, Charles had one on his hand, I must have received one as well. _

"_I like the tattoo!"_

_Of course, that's what he meant. He thought this was a tattoo, but then... who is this woman?_

Quickly trying to buy time to formulate a plan to get out of this he tried to talk his way out of this. "You've been waiting for me haven't you?"

"I'm asking the questions here," She kept her hands steady as she pointed the gun at him, "Where. Did. You. Get. That. Mark?"

_She's not going to give anything away; she must either have geass or be a code bearer... _"If you know of this mark, then you know that that trinket won't do anything against me." He bluffed, bluffed as best as he could.

There was a silence that was only broken by the loud music. The walls were shaking from the vibrations, but neither backed down. Lelouch stood in front of her, only his black boots, shorts and white face mask. "Who says I'm trying to kill you?" She smirked at him, "This is a tranquilizer. I'm only looking for answers, that's all."

He wondered about her words, _Well it's not like I have much to lose._ "I got it from someone."

She wasn't satisfied, "Obviously, but who? When?"

He stared at her, "Why don't you try using your geass to figure it out?"

She laughed, "Geass doesn't work on u-"

"Us?" She slipped. So she was an immortal. "What's your name?"

She growled, "That doesn't matter. It seems like you're forgetting that I'm the one with the gun."

"Oh yes, I seem to be forgetting tha-" before he finished that sentence he jumped off from the stage he was on and threw himself on her who was on the chair. They fell backwards onto the ground and stuggled for the gun. She elbowed him in the ribs. With the hand that was grabbing onto hers he elbowed her in the face, and she grunted in pain. Despite the thorn on his side, he kept his hand on the gun, trying to pull it away from her.

The music was still blaring from all around them and if someone heard them grunting from outside the door, it would have been mistaken for something else. Yet on the inside was literally a quarrel between two immortals.

Finally his fingers were able to loosen her grip on the gun. Her body had gone limp as if she had lost the will to move. He was laying atop of her, and only now that he had the gun in his hand was he proud of going to the gym. As he put his finger inside of the trigger hole, a sensation that was all to familiar to the former Zero, he was able to hear the one word he didn't want to hear.

"Lelouch?"

Instinctively he shot the woman in her abdomen. He didn't even will his hand to do it, it just happened. His head turned towards the woman and he saw it, the green hair that was in the form of a bun. Her raven hair no longer there. His vision panned out and the black wig laid on the floor where they had previously rolled from. And next to that wig was his mask, the mask that kept his facial features from being recognized; however that was irrelevant now that she was here.

_C.C._

"C.C.?" He was frantic, she was here._ How was she here? How did she find me? It's only been two months since my death! How was I uncovered so fast?_

His thoughts were scattered, yet he could still hear her, "It really is you.. isn't it?" Then barely audibly he heard her, "Bastard." She gave one last chuckle before she submitted to the tranquilizing effects of the gun.

It was hours later when they were in his room. The door was locked with a bolt lock, a new addition he had added so he would be able to remove his contacts and be able to have his black locks instead of his wigs.

It was there that C.C. was awoken. Groggy eyes took in her surroundings. "Wh-where am I?"

Lelouch stared at her, hesitantly he spoke up, "My room."

Startled, C.C. sat up quickly from the bed and looked to her left where Lelouch sat on a chair. Her eyes quickly showed that she was surprised; however, they were quickly schooled back into the regular indifference he had seen. "So it is you."

"Oh?" He was genuinely intrigued, "You knew it was me?"

She looked around, it was a simple room. The bed she was on in the corner, at the front of the bed was a television atop of a table, next to the bed was a nightstand and atop of it was a Pizza Hut pizza.

Grabbing the box, she opened it and grabbed a slice, "I see you haven't forgotten my habits."

He hmphed, "Don't dodge the question witch. How did you know it was me?"

After taking a bite she smiled, "I didn't. It was only after I saw those purple eyes on stage that I thought it was you."

_Purple eyes... _"I didn't have contacts on while on stage?"

She laughed, "Oh?" Taking another bite, "It seems like our poor Emperor made a tiny mistake."

His retort was fast. "Don't call me that."

She looked amused again. "Why not?"

"That's not who I am anymore." He looked nostalgic.

She laughed a little. "So who _are_ you?"

He didn't answer her. It was obvious to the immortal witch that he was still working that out. It was only after she had finished the box of pizza that he finally spoke again. "How did you find me?"

"I didn't. It was merely coincidence that I walked into the same store that day." She had her back against the wall and her legs were stretched out on the bed dangling off the side. "I saw a man with a geass symbol on his back and I followed him. It brought me here, and so for the next month I came here looking for him. Finally today I found him, and turns out it's you."

He stayed silent. It made sense, she was the woman that he had heard gasp but was gone when he turned around. "So what now?" He was hesitant. He had hurt her, but now that she was here, he was glad. He didn't want her to leave, he was the only person who knew who he was and he still thought of her as his confident.

"When we were in Cs world, you said something." That took Lelouch by surprise. "'Why do people lie? It's because there's something they are seeking.' I lied to you because I was seeking to end my immortality."

He understood what she was saying. He had expected her to be angry with him, yet centuries of living had apparently calmed down her ire. "I lied because if I didn't I wouldn't be able to go through with it."

She looked at him, trying to see if he was lying. "Really? Even then it was a selfish reason?"

He averted his eyes, "Yes. If you thought I was doing this to push you away, and keep you safe you're mistaken."

She laughed at him, "You really are one interesting human." She looked at him on the chair, "I'm tired Lelouch." She grabbed the blanket and got under it. "Don't forget, good boys sleep on the floor."

He look at her incredulously, "What are you doing?"

"Lelouch, you shot me with a gun, I think I deserve this." Without even waiting for a reply she gave him her shoulder and turned around.

He looked at her, confused. He expected her to do something else, yet once again she surprised him. He grabbed a blanket from a closet and pulled a couple towels as a pillow and laid on the floor.

* * *

><p><strong>February 17<strong>**th**** 2019 a.t.b.**

It was when he woke up to the sound of a knock on the door. "Lewis, did you order five pizzas?" It was Angelica's voice.

He sat up from the ground and saw that the restroom door had the light on. "That witch." He sat up and put on his blonde wig, followed by unlocking the door, "Yes, sorry to make you carry them in." He went to the nightstand and opened up his wallet to take out some money. After he paid and brought them in he locked the door.

"You know this place isn't as extravagant as your palace."

He looked up from the bed and there she was in front of the restroom door, wearing only one of his v-neck white shirts.

"I'm not an emperor anymore." He grabbed a slice of pizza and took a bite.

"Who said you could have a bite?" She looked at him, her lime green hair reaching her back

"Me. I paid for them." He kept eating it.

"Hmph." She turned around and grabbed a pair of his black swim trunks, they were baggy but she simply pulled the string on them and tightened them. "So were are we going to go now?"

He looked at her confused, the pizza still in his mouth. "What do you mean?"

She laughed at him, "Well since you're still alive, our contract isn't void. I'm going to make you take responsibility, so you're stuck with me now."

Surprisingly that wasn't what he thought. Now that she was here, he didn't want her to leave. The thought of her going away pulled at his heart strings, not that he would tell her so. He gave her a look of indifference, "If you'd like I guess I wouldn't mind." His words didn't seem to affect her in the least. "Either way why are we leaving?"

It was her turn to look at him completely amused, "Lelouch, I knew you liked theatrics; however, I never imagined you loved to being a stripper." Then in a more seductive voice she added, "You were always so shy with me."

She expected him to blush, but not even a tint of pink was on his cheeks. "I'm not a stripper, I'm an exotic dancer, and it's not that, but I don't understand why we're leaving."

The look of disappointment was all he needed to see, "How mundane. I always thought you were an interesting boy, looks like I was mistaken."

He thought her words over. It was true, he had fallen into routine. Wake up, shower, swim, bartend, gym, sleep, and then start over. Slowly he was losing himself in this schedule. He stared at her as she ate her pizza. He started chuckling a little, "You know this is the second time," her attention was on him. "Until I met you I was dead." She looked at him confused. "An impotent corpse existing behind a false guise of life; a life in which I did nothing real." She had heard these words, "Day by day I merely went through the motions of living, as if I was a zombie, and I always had the feeling that I was gradually dying." He stared at her amber eyes, "And this is the second time that I realized, that if I'm condemned to go back to that then I'd rather..."

She finally understood, and gave small laugh as well. "Life without meaning is..."

She didn't need to finish the sentence, they both understood it well.

"So what do you intend to do now?"

Lelouch looked at her, smiled, "Does it matter witch? I'm a warlock, wherever I go I'll make sure to keep things interesting."

She laughed knowing that Lelouch always had a plan, and whatever happened now, it didn't matter, it would be something that only a witch and warlock could do.


End file.
